Kohima-Jessami road: Proposed stir temporarily suspended

Kohima: The locals and contractors of package V under Kohima-Jessami road temporarily suspended its proposed agitation and road blockade along the two-lane road portion, which was scheduled on Tuesday.

Avi Movi, the leader of the group of agitators, told Eastern Mirror on Tuesday that based on the letter from the company, M/s Stroyproekt LLC OIA JV on April 30, they decided to call off the agitation temporarily.

‘Until and unless the court finalises the matter, we won’t be taking up the agitation’, he added.

It may be mentioned that the M/s Stroyproekt LLC OIA JV, had filed a writ petition against National Highway and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL) at Gauhati High Court, Kohima Bench over the company’s contract agreement termination and for floating a new tender for the Kohima-Jessami road project.

When the matter was taken up for hearing on Tuesday, the court had listed the matter for hearing after one week (that is on May 9).

The interim order passed by the court will continue, the court stated and ordered NHIDCL to remove publication of the tender from all media forms till the next hearing.

The court in its order on April 3, had directed NHIDCL that the notice inviting bid for the road project “will not be opened without the notice of the court”.

Movi said that they were waiting for the court verdict on the matter and there will be no agitation till such time. He added the work will continue at a ‘slow pace’.

He also said that the local contractors will “not accept any requests from anyone” and would resume its agitation if the decision is not in their favour.

Meanwhile, the contractor had written to the agitators, requesting not to go ahead with the blockade as the matter is in the High Court and the contractor had hinted of high-level discussions with government authorities for resolution of their problem soon.

The contractor stated that the groups’ concerns had been ‘put forward to the highest office and top officials and they were in the process to evaluate and do justice to the project and people associated with the project’.

It further sought their patience to resolve the issue at the earliest.

The Agitators Group who worked under the M/s Stroyproekt LLC OIA JV, has earlier called for blockade along the package V, Kohima-Jessami stretching over 20 km, following the non-payment of bills by the company, who in turn was not paid by the NHIDCL.